Jerry DeVaul overcame losing his legs, addiction to emerge as local hockey icon

President of Colorado Sled Hockey Jerry DeVaul takes a pause near the boards while running practice drills with teammate Ryan Strong at Big Bear Ice Arena in Denver on Wednesday, May 15, 2024. DeVaul is a finalist for the NHL’s Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award. He is a U.S. Army veteran, and double amputee who lost both his legs in a mining accident. (Photo by Eric Lutzens/The Denver Post)

Jerry DeVaul was lying in a puddle of water, his legs severed, when he made a vow to himself and the sky above.

It was October 2011, and DeVaul was working at a mine in Trinidad after recently finishing his service in the U.S. Army when a coworker ran him over with a mining scoop — altering his life forever.

DeVaul spent nearly two hours after that alone and critically injured, waiting for help and hoping for a second chance.

Out of that trauma, and a bumpy road to recovery that included multiple detours, DeVaul eventually found his calling as a player and now president for Colorado Sled Hockey.

“When I lost my legs, I made a promise to God that day that if I kept my life, I would inspire daily,” DeVaul recalled. “Sled hockey is the way I do that, because I get to give back to other individuals who think that their life is forever done, and they won’t be able to do activities they enjoy. I was in that same position after my accident.

“This sport changed my life, and honestly saved my life. That’s why I try to expose as many people as possible to the sport, because every single time I offer it to someone new, and someone with a disability gets the same passion and motivation and drive out on the ice that I do, there’s nothing more satisfying on the planet.”

For his work with Colorado Sled Hockey, the 39-year-old Colorado Springs resident was recently named a finalist for the NHL’s Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award, presented annually to an individual who positively impacts a community through hockey.

In his role as president, DeVaul oversees an organization that’s been around since 1995 but has risen to another level under his direction. Colorado Sled Hockey has four teams — an A, B and C level, plus a youth squad — as it continues to grow in numbers and impact under DeVaul.

“I see him healing and inspiring a lot more people than he could probably even imagine,” his wife, Regina DeVaul, said. “And I’m seeing him fulfilling the dream he had since that day at the mine.”

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